I am staying out of politics for a while. It is worthless to fight with people online. And my voice is better used for sharing my life and not a day long fight about my beliefs.
So if you are not aware of Tony Posnanski news, I sell sports cards and memorabilia full time. Like this is my job. My career. If I made a business card, it would have my eBay handle on it and my job title would be “Asshole”.
Okay, I am kidding about the asshole part. Probably something like president of the sports division of Tony Posnanski enterprises. See, I can sound fancy.
I mainly sell on eBay. I have done direct sales and will, but lately there have been a ton of scams and my reputation is more important than a few bucks.
So with that, I do a lot of shipping. I ship out around 200 items a week. I have had no issues. I am pretty firm in wrapping a card, shipping in a bubble wrapper. I take just as much pride with shipping as I do selling.
So the other day, a woman bought a card from me for $20. It was in a case, so I was starting to wrap it to ship. I put the slab (That is what it is called when it is in a graded case) in a plastic bag, cover it with cardboard and put it in a bubble mailer.
So it was a little odd that right after I sold the card, I got a message the size of a CVS receipt that explained in detail how to ship this card. I mean step by step. Please wrap it in bubble wrap, and then place in a card box, and then wrap some more, and so on…
So when I first read this, I was annoyed. I mean, I have shipped close to 10,000 items this year alone. I do not have any issues. And I do not need someone to tell me how to ship.
But on the other hand, this was a very over the top detailed description of how to ship.
So first off, I went to Amazon to see how much the boxes were to ship along with extra bubble wrap. Both together were $25, which was more than the card itself. But I would have more for someone else.
So I just decided to go through with it. I ordered the items to ship this card a certain way, even though deep down I never had an issue. Ever.
So I messaged the woman who bought the card and explained that I read how she wants it shipped, but for that to happen I have to extend it a day because I need to order the items.
Ever since restaurants, I have this customer is always right mentality. I think that is why people will buy a more expensive card from me rather than someone else, because I truly give a fuck.
So she writes me back and is shocked I responded. She says she writes this on every order, and no one ever responds or they write something smart back to her.
So she explains the reason why she is picky is because this card, like every card she gets, is for her son who has autism. He loves cards, but also wants them wrapped a certain way.
And that is when I realized I made the right decision for $25 instead of just shipping or saying I know how to ship.
There is too much competition to be an asshole these days. Nothing I sell is special. Remember, I am the guy who sold over 2,000 “stick figure” art pieces.
Art pieces no one else could do as well as I do.
But what I will keep thriving to do is care. And I am happy to be able to give someone a card shipped the way they want.
I will do it for anyone and have proved it time and time again.
Thank you for reading. I am going to write more human interest pieces along with sharing art. I do not feel the need to share my thoughts on the political landscape or social worldwide issues as of late. but fuck Ted Cruz. That is always a given. Anyway, please consider a paid subscription where you can comment and message me and if you like what I do and want to give to the cause, you can throw me a tip here.
This story made my morning! Thanks for sharing Tony!
Thank you. This is a perfect example of kindness. You did not know the shoes she was walking in and deferred to kindness.